"Wang Ye, bear with it a little longer. It'll feel better once I massage it for you."
"Mmm..."
Chu Chu started slowly kneading from his shoulders, talking as she worked. "Wang Ye, have you had rheumatism since birth?"
Xiao Jin Yu answered distractedly, "No..."
"When did you get it then?"
"Three years ago..."
"That's not too long. I'll massage you more often from now on, it can be controlled."
"Mmm..."
"Then... your legs, is it because of rheumatism?"
"No..."
"What happened then?"
"I don't remember..."
"Ah?"
"I was too young, I don't remember... The physician said it was from a fall... The palace maid who dropped me was executed long ago..."
Chu Chu's heart ached as she massaged Xiao Jin Yu's bony back, visible through his thin frame. "She deserved it!"
"Executed by dismemberment..."
"What's dismemberment?"
"Torn apart by five horses..."
Chu Chu fell silent for a long while, then gritted her teeth. "Still not pitiable! Who told her to drop you..."
"I don't remember... Maybe I was disobedient as a child..."
"Nonsense! You're the most obedient!"
"..."
Chu Chu paused to pour more medicated wine into her palm. When she resumed massaging, her movements were noticeably gentler and more careful. "Wang Ye, you're either sitting or lying down all day, so your waist suffers the most. Look how stiff your waist is - it must be terribly painful. Why didn't you wake me up earlier..."
Xiao Jin Yu had already relaxed under the perfectly applied pressure, drifting toward sleep, but when Chu Chu touched his waist, his body tensed immediately.
His waist was indeed both extremely fragile and sensitive. Chu Chu's warm, soft little hands kneaded rhythmically at his waist, each movement sending slight tremors through his entire body.
Chu Chu paused and asked carefully, "Wang Ye, did I hurt you?"
"No... not at all..."
Xiao Jin Yu was telling the truth. What made him tremble wasn't pain, but waves of heat transmitted from those small hands to his skin, rushing in through his vulnerable waist and back, violently impacting his lifeless body, rapidly consuming his consciousness. The speed of his body's reaction startled even Xiao Jin Yu himself. He knew his waist was sensitive, but never this sensitive - she was only helping him apply medicated wine...
"Chu Chu... mmm... don't..."
Chu Chu was massaging intently, completely unaware of his discomfort. "Is my massage uncomfortable?"
Xiao Jin Yu's embarrassment threshold wasn't high enough to answer that question. With his thoroughly flushed face buried in the pillow, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "My... my legs hurt... badly... help massage my legs instead..."
Chu Chu's eyes widened as if she'd seen a ghost. "Wang Ye, you can feel your legs!"
Xiao Jin Yu shook his head. If he had normal sensation, he wouldn't dare let her massage them. "Only pain... deep in the bones..."
"Alright, I'll massage them right away!"
Xiao Jin Yu didn't know when he had fallen asleep last night. His last memory was of Chu Chu helping him turn onto his back, then starting to massage his legs.
When he woke, the sky was already bright, the space beside him empty, with both quilts covering him.
Xiao Jin Yu tried moving slightly - still weak, but no longer in pain.
The entire previous day had felt like a dream...Xiao Jin Yu was still drowsy when Chu Chu rushed in, carrying a vase with several branches of vibrant red plum blossoms. Seeing that Xiao Jin Yu was awake, she hurried directly to the bedside with the vase.
"Wang Ye, you're awake!"
"Hmm..." Xiao Jin Yu looked at the flowers in the vase. "Where did these come from?"
"I picked them from the Ji family's garden. There's a whole grove of plum trees by the lake, and with this nice weather the past couple days, they've all bloomed! I asked the maid who tends the garden, and she said I could pick them before I did." She pushed the flowers toward Xiao Jin Yu. "Wang Ye, look—aren't they beautiful?"
Xiao Jin Yu chuckled softly. "They are beautiful... Help me get dressed."
"Why do you need to get dressed? You should be resting in bed!"
"Lying down is uncomfortable. I want to go out and see the flowers, get some sun..."
"I know where they are! I'll go with you!"
"Alright."
Chu Chu set down the vase and went to rummage through the wardrobe. "Wang Ye, which outfit would you like to wear?"
"The white one will do."
"Wang Ye, all your clothes besides your official robes are white."
"Is that so..."
He hadn't even noticed himself.
"That's right! Do you like white best?"
"No..."
"Then why are all your clothes white?"
"Perhaps... because I'm always going to places in mourning."
Chu Chu slowly pushed Xiao Jin Yu all the way to the garden. As they turned a corner and caught sight of the red plum blossoms, they also saw someone under the plum trees raising an axe, about to swing it at the tree in the blink of an eye.
"Don't chop it down!"
Chu Chu shouted and immediately dashed over. Xiao Jin Yu wanted to stop her but was too late. He watched as Chu Chu rushed forward, spreading her arms to stand between the person and the tree. "You're not allowed to chop it down!"
The maid, who had been about to swing the axe, was startled by the sudden appearance of a living person and dropped the axe in fright.
With a "plop," the axe landed right in the lake behind the maid.
The maid looked closely and recognized the person who had suddenly appeared as the Imperial Concubine who had come earlier to pick flowers. She quickly knelt in panic. "Imperial Concubine, please forgive me! This lowly one deserves death!"
"Why were you chopping it down?!"
"Imperial Concubine, please calm your anger... The steward ordered it to be cut down. He said that for the mistress's funeral, no red can be seen in the residence. This lowly one had no choice..."
Chu Chu was so angry she was about to scold the maid when she suddenly heard the sound of wooden wheels slowly grinding against the ground. She abruptly remembered that in her haste, she had left Xiao Jin Yu behind. She quickly turned to look and saw Xiao Jin Yu pushing his wheelchair toward them. The path was uneven, and he was struggling to move forward.
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